3. I'm glad they caught these assholes.

4. Utah wants to confiscate national park land. This would discourage people from using it as intended.

I don't believe this was set up for poaching. This may be 'lone gunman' territory and then again it may not. In other states privatization vultures have defunded the maintenance and security at parks so that it's not safe to visit them. This park doesn't look safe now.

Eventually they close them and they are sold off to the same entities, corporations, so-called non-profits, etc. and used as the 1% wants. Golf courses, country clubs, expensive homes. They often make a case for saving the environment or reducing state deficits or public safety. A good deal of parkland in many states have been surrendered to private interests and the public is then locked out. Theft of the commons.

The people that set these traps were breaking the game laws if they were poaching; they may have been hunting human prey; or they might be just that callous and stupid to think they will be allowed to indulge themselves in either sport on public land. We don't know and they're being let off easy.

11. Here, I'll post some more fiction in support of your point...

“The fact is,” Elliot told his wife, “I hate people who start the day cross-country skiing.”

She shook her head in denial and leaned her forehead on her palm and cried.

He looked into the kitchen window and saw his own distorted image. “The fact is I think I’ll start tomorrow morning by stringing head-high razor wire across Anderson’s trail.”

The Andersons were the Elliots’ nearest neighbors. Loyall Anderson was a full professor of government at the state university, thirty miles away. Anderson and his wife were blond and both of them were over six feet tall. They had two blond children, who qualified for the gifted class in the local school but attended regular classes in token of the Andersons’ opposition to elitism.

19. Well, I went to 3 years undergrad with him in the same geology program, I know his family

and the fact that his dad is the largest private landowner in Washington, plus his family is (was) in timber, as was my wife's father. But yeah, when he tells me his uncle was murdered by someone spiking a tree I should have just call him a liar spreading urban legends.

13. Hate to say it, but you sound like the Lord's Avenger. Do you remember Judi Bari?

She co-founded Earth First! For her trouble saving the environment so our kids might have a planet with breathable air and drinkable water, she and colleague got car bombed. Of course, the FBI blamed her for it.

14. Links to that?

Because, I find that very, very doubtful, and I've mountain biked, hiked, and trail ran on many trails all over the US, and I have never heard a story about an environmentalist trying to maim or kill outdoors sportsmen and women. Especially since we are usually some of their biggest backers.

20. links.

Not saying it isn't extremely rare, but it's happened. If you haven't mountain biked much you can't appreciate how pissed of some people can get who think they "own" the trail and will do whatever they can to keep people off it.

James Hetfield from Metallica is an excellent example, but he actually owns the section of trail he shut down, and didn't try and hurt anyone. He's just a jerk.

24. I still don't see any links saying an evil enviromentalist did this

And, the only link you did give was for one incident in the UK.

If you own land, you don't have to allow people access to it.

I mountain bike, hike, and trail run a lot, and of course have friends who do so. I have never heard of evil environmentalists trying to kill us, especially since we all are environmentalists ourselves.